


That Devil Box Tells You Nothing But Lies

by Spirishcat



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Drabble, Día de Muertos, Gen, Missing Scene, Rivera Family - Freeform, coco - Freeform, disney coco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 04:09:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15111515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spirishcat/pseuds/Spirishcat
Summary: A little drabble going into the moment not seen in the film where Mamá Imelda is not allowed to cross the bridge





	That Devil Box Tells You Nothing But Lies

Día de los Muertos had a kind of routine to it for the Rivera family. Their living relatives  _always_  put all of their photos on the  _ofrenda_ , and  _always_  led the way with marigolds and decorated the altar with treats and memories. They were not a family to neglect their traditions or their loved ones, never ones to forget, _never_. Their yearly visit was a routine but a happy one and one met with delight and excitement, though it was Rosita who seemed always to be the least able to contain it. Imelda always let them go ahead first, Julio and Rosita as well as Victoria, while she and her brothers would tidy the shop and make sure everything was left in order before crossing the bridge herself. 

Besides, the few times when she had left earlier she had found Héctor trying to cross the bridge as well. That had been in the beginning of her time here, when he still tried to reach out to her, to talk to her, to try and make her understand why leaving to play music had been so important, more important than his  _familia._  She preferred not to see his display and she preferred not to give him another opportunity to come near her. So for decades she  _always_ went later, though tonight they were a little earlier than usual. 

Reaching the departure gate, Imelda could not help but scowl at  _las computadoras_  lining the desks. She remembered when it had been much less digital in checking  _ofrendas_  for photos; yes, it had taken _longer_ , but it had not been all beeps and there had never been a chance of something breaking. It was also all so very impersonal and they all relied on them too much.

Felipe and Óscar went through as a pair, as always (another habit), even though it meant the machine seemed to beep a little excessively for it, before Imelda stepped forward to be scanned herself. The process was such typical routine now, Imelda had already begun to walk through the gate before the computer had dinged…but then it made a noise. A bad noise. A different noise than usual.

“Oh…” The woman behind the desk murmured. Imelda looked back but said nothing. For now. Watching, _waiting_ for the right noise to ding. But the woman behind the desk just continued to frown and Imelda was forced to walk back over.

“ _What_ is wrong?” Presumably it had broken just as Imelda had always predicted it would.

“Erm, no one put up your photo…”  


“What?”   


“You have no photo on any  _ofrenda, señora_ ,” The woman explained and Imelda immediately shook her head and her hands in argument.   


“No, no, no, that is not possible. My family _always_ puts my photo on the _ofrenda_. Do it again”  


“But–”  


“Again,” Imelda insisted. The woman complied and the same angry noise came out of the devil box. “ _Again_ ” She repeated, determined that it would get it right eventually. Elena would  **NEVER** neglect to put up her photo, never. That devil machine was not just keeping her from the bridge, it was calling her granddaughter neglectful. And she would not have it.   


“S _eñora_  , it will say the same”  


“Then it is broken. I want to be scanned at another gate”  


“What is it?” Felipe asked, poking his head back through the gate  


“Is something wrong?” Óscar asked, appearing too.  


“This infernal _devil box_ is saying I have no photo” Imelda said, explaining and complaining in the same breath as she glared back at the woman. “Tell her that my family _always_  puts up my photo”  


“Always” Felipe answered  


“Every year” Óscar added  


“Without fail”  


“Without hesitation”  


Imelda turned back to the woman with a smug expression as if that concluded the matter. “See? It is your _devil box_ that’s wrong. Now,” She gestured to the gate and her intention to carry on towards the bridge.

“I’m sorry,  _señora,_  without a photo, you can’t cross the bridge”  


Imelda had memories of the few times she had seen Héctor and his attempts to cross and the staff telling him exactly the same. That if he was not honoured on an  _ofrenda_ , he could not cross the bridge. She remembered seeing him begging and pleading, she remembered feeling a flicker of guilt before deciding that he deserved it. If he abandoned Coco in life why should he get to see her in death? But she would not be like him, trapped on the other side, unable to see her  _familia_ on Día de Muertos, she would _not_ be liked Héctor. The mere thought made her all the more insistent that she be allowed to cross the bridge. 

“How do you know that that thing is right? And that it is _not_ broken?” Imelda cut off the woman before she could answer, turning to her  _hermanos_ instead, “Go to our family and see my photo and come back to tell this  _woman_ that I  _am_ on the  _ofrenda_ , so that they can stop listening to **_that_** ” She gestured angrily at the computer, “and let me cross the bridge”  


“Yes”

“Of course”

“We’ll be as quick as a flash”  


“Quick as lightening”  


“Quicker”

Imelda rolled her eyes at her brothers’ habits which were sometimes endearing and other times just frustrating. “Go _now_ ” She encouraged and they ran off, leaving her to deal with the staff member. “I  _demand_ to speak to someone else. I will not be denied seeing  _mi familia_ just because you cannot think for yourselves and must trust that devil box to answer all of your questions. I am going to go and speak to someone in charge and I am going to have this mistake cleared up and I will come back and show you how _wrong_ you and your devil box were”

 She nodded in firm conclusion before marching off in the direction of the desks for queries and complaints, glimpsing out of the corner of her eye what looked like Frida Kahlo who was joining the back of a very long queue on the opposite side of the hall. No doubt _she_ would have no problems at the gate. _Típico._


End file.
